A Saturday surprise: Smith selects English to 'bring the heat'

Larry English on being picked by the Chargers as an outside linebacker: "The more I learned about the 3-4 scheme and my abilities, the type of football player I am ... I think I will fit perfectly in it." (Scott Boehm/Getty Images)
Scott Boehm — Getty Images

Larry English on being picked by the Chargers as an outside linebacker: "The more I learned about the 3-4 scheme and my abilities, the type of football player I am ... I think I will fit perfectly in it." (Scott Boehm/Getty Images)
/ Getty Images

Details: Northern Illinois' all-time sacks leader with 31.5. His 63 tackles
for loss are seventh-most since the NCAA started tracking that stat in 2000.
School-record five sacks vs. Idaho in 2007. School-record six TFL vs. Temple
in '06. Started 47 games. Was named top player in the Mid-American Conference
by league coaches the past two seasons. Has had asthma since he was young.
Medical redshirt in 2004 because of ankle injury.

For what he can provide now as well as for the future, Larry English made sense to the Chargers.

With a desire to immediately upgrade their pass-rush potential and eyeing a bigger need a couple of years down the line, the Chargers targeted the defensive end/outside linebacker all along and brought him into the fold Saturday alongside Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.

Already possessing a pair of outside linebackers whose 57 sacks since 2006 are the second-most by two teammates in that span – even with Merriman missing last season – the Chargers got themselves another player whose specialty is getting after quarterbacks.

Playing defensive end in a 4-3 defense, English had 31½ sacks and 63 tackles for loss in 50 games (47 starts) at Northern Illinois University.

"The more I learned about the 3-4 scheme, I think my ability, my athletic ability, just the type of football player that I am, is conducive to the scheme," English said Saturday. "I think I will fit perfect in it."

The Chargers believe so, too. And while the official focus of the team's brass Saturday was on 2009, the pick was obvious insurance for the likelihood that Merriman has two years left as a Charger.

Merriman said on his Twitter page last night: "Love our draft choice let's bring the heat."

There were a number of intriguing possibilities for the Chargers when their turn at No. 16 in the first round came just before 3 p.m., though running back Knowshon Moreno was taken by the Denver Broncos four picks earlier.

Still on the board were tackle Michael Oher, running back Beanie Wells and inside linebacker Rey Maualuga.

"We were in a nice spot," said General Manager A.J. Smith, who talked briefly after making the selection and did not answer any questions from reporters. "We could have gone either way. We had five or six guys – offense, defense; we decided to go defense. Unless we shore up the defense we're not going to go where we want to go."

The trade possibilities Smith expected to materialize never came for the Chargers. They talked with teams about swapping before the draft but had no discussions Saturday.

Thus, English was the Chargers' only move.

They have seven picks Sunday, beginning with No. 78 overall in the third round. They have three fourth-round picks, the first of which they could still package in a trade up to the third round.

The pick of English was met with shock by almost everyone, including the Huskies' first first-round selection.

"I was a little bit caught off-guard just because I haven't had a lot of contact with the organization since the combine, and I didn't take a visit (to San Diego)," English said.

But the Chargers saw it pretty clearly.

"We need to bring pressure," Smith said shortly after exercising his highest pick since 2005, when he took Merriman at No. 12. "This is a guy who can bring the heat. He's physical, nasty, great presence."

The 6-foot-2 English, who said he weighed in at 256 pounds this week, dominated the Mid-American Conference much of the past four seasons and was that league's Player of the Year the past two seasons.

Some questions about English revolved around his playing in the MAC, but the Chargers had no such qualms.

"Absolutely not," said Jimmy Raye, director of player personnel. "Especially if a guy dominates that level. It's still Division I football. A lot of good players have come out of that league. ... If he can play at that level that he did in that conference, we feel like that can translate to this league too."

English plays a position and possesses a skill set that could help him get on the field and contribute quickly. Even if he doesn't immediately grasp all the nuances of the NFL and this defense, he knows how to get in the backfield.

The selection of English should not be read solely – right away, at least – as the Chargers looking beyond Merriman's time here.

Merriman's contract is up after this season, but he likely will be here in 2010 – either because the possible uncapped '10 season would mean he was a restricted free agent or because the Chargers would place the franchise tag on him.

English could well be the one to replace Merriman, but that is not the only reason he was drafted.

Rather, the Chargers are excited by the thought of both English and Merriman on the field along with Phillips.

"The biggest thing for us is enough guys who can put pressure on the quarterback," coach Norv Turner said. "You look at the way teams attack us, they don't line up in two tight ends and two backs and run the ball 40 times in a game.

"We've had the most passes thrown against us in the past five years. Last year, over half our snaps were in some sort of sub package against a three-and four-wide receiver set. So we felt a real urgency to create situations where we can put more pressure on the quarterback. Obviously, getting Shawne Merriman back will help us greatly there, but adding a rusher we thought would certainly help us."

The Chargers faced 605 passes in 2008, second-most in the NFL. Their one sack per 22.6 pass plays was 28th. The 4,090 yards they allowed were second-most, and 25 passing touchdowns fourth-most.

"I don't care who you are, you can only cover so long," Turner said. "If you can't pressure the quarterback in this league you're going to struggle. We think Larry can come in here and as a young player play a lot of snaps of football. We're not going to get caught up on saying (he's a starter or not). People want your No. 1 draft pick to be a starter. If he comes in and plays 500 or 600 snaps in our nickel packages and can be productive that would be a great plus for us."

Much of the Chargers' sack drop-off (from 42 in 2007 to 28 in '08) could be attributed to Merriman missing the final 15 games after major knee surgery.

But the Chargers have wanted to ratchet up the pass rush since leading the league in sacks in 2006. They had packages last summer in which Merriman, Phillips and Jyles Tucker were in together. Now they have presumably upgraded that package.

"Merriman coming off one edge and English off another and Shaun Phillips moving around and using some of the stuff (defensive coordinator) Ron (Rivera) likes to do," Turner said, "we can create some real problems for offensive football teams."